Senior Member

Hello everyone.
I tried looking up the manual and also Scott Kelby's Photoshop book but I can't find the answer specifically to this question of mine:

After I PP-ed a RAW (CR2) photo in Photoshop CS4, and I want to convert it into DNG format and save it, how do I do it?

I have searched the menu bars for tips and hints on CS4 but I could not get this particular step.
Can the experienced CS4 users out there please enlighten me?
If it has already been discussed in ClubSNAP, then please pardon me because I searched extensively in CS but cannot find anything pertaining to this specific step.
I thank you all in advance.

Senior Member

Hello Peano.
Thank you so much for your very prompt reply.
I do open the Camera RAW using Adobe Bridge before proceeding to Photoshop to process them.
However, once I have processed the image, and I want to save them as DNG format, this is where the problem arises.
I am not able to find this 'Open Camera RAW' menu to open this processed image in PS.
And a such, I am not able to save in DNG.
Even using the 'Save As' option in PS doesn't not offer the option of 'DNG'.
What have I missed out?

I'm pretty sure that can't be done. If I understand .dng format correctly, it's just an alternative to the raw file (.cr2, nef, or whatever). You can save the dng file with whatever adjustments you make inside ACR. But the edits you subsequently make in Photoshop will have to be saved in another formate ... jpeg, tif, etc., on the Save As menu.

Senior Member

I'm pretty sure that can't be done. If I understand .dng format correctly, it's just an alternative to the raw file (.cr2, nef, or whatever). You can save the dng file with whatever adjustments you make inside ACR. But the edits you subsequently make in Photoshop will have to be saved in another formate ... jpeg, tif, etc., on the Save As menu.

New Member

I'm pretty sure that can't be done. If I understand .dng format correctly, it's just an alternative to the raw file (.cr2, nef, or whatever). You can save the dng file with whatever adjustments you make inside ACR. But the edits you subsequently make in Photoshop will have to be saved in another formate ... jpeg, tif, etc., on the Save As menu.

There is a work-around if Lightroom is a part of your workflow. Just save the PP picture as Tiff or PSD and open it in lightroom. Then export it as DNG. However the draw back is that the size of that DNG file is very large

Senior Member

There is a work-around if Lightroom is a part of your workflow. Just save the PP picture as Tiff or PSD and open it in lightroom. Then export it as DNG. However the draw back is that the size of that DNG file is very large

catohcat, thank you for your input.
However, once you save it in Tiff (I'm not sure about PSD), the size and details would have been compromised (lessened) already.
And it defeats the purpose of converting into DNG again.
Am I right to say that?

New Member

catohcat, thank you for your input.
However, once you save it in Tiff (I'm not sure about PSD), the size and details would have been compromised (lessened) already.
And it defeats the purpose of converting into DNG again.
Am I right to say that?

Hi limwhow, why dont you just try it out yourself? Tiff format is "rawer" than psd because it also saves your metadata inside.

If quality is your concern then you should stick with Raw format & dont edit it from the beginning. The moment you use camera raw to import into PS, details is already "compromised", due to Adobe uses their in-house camera profile to "read" your raw file.

Senior Member

Hi limwhow, why dont you just try it out yourself? Tiff format is "rawer" than psd because it also saves your metadata inside.

If quality is your concern then you should stick with Raw format & dont edit it from the beginning. The moment you use camera raw to import into PS, details is already "compromised", due to Adobe uses their in-house camera profile to "read" your raw file.

Yes, you are right.
I have learned to do only one step conversion of my CR2 Canon RAW to DNG just for the sake of keeping it in a Universal RAW form.
I will save into a final Jpeg after PP, leaving the original DNG untouched.
Thank you for your advice.